Donald Trump's 2005 Tax Return Revealed on 'The Rachel Maddow Show'

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: President Donald Trump holds a meeting with members of his cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. This was the first official meeting of Trump's cabinet. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)Pool

Roughly two and a half hours before her show began on Tuesday night, MSNBC television host and political commentator Rachel Maddow tweeted that she'd received a copy of "Trump tax returns" and would be talking about it on her eponymous television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, that night. About an hour later, she also confirmed through Twitter that she had President Donald Trump's 1040 tax form from 2005. (A 1040 form is an individual tax return on which people enter their gross income and deductions.)

Maddow, as well as several news outlets, including the Daily Beast and The Washington Post, covered the tax returns over the course of her television hour. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist David Cay Johnston told Maddow on her show that he received the tax returns in his mailbox and posted them on his website, DCReport, where the public could access them.

What did the returns say? The Washington Postreported Trump paid taxes on more than $150 million in the year 2005, and the tax return states that he paid $38 million in taxes.

Right before Maddow's show, the White House issued a statement and verified the numbers shown on the tax return. "You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago," it read. "Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required."

The statement continued, “It is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans." However, the Boston Globereported that Maddow argued the returns were protected by the First Amendment's free speech clause, especially because the forms were of public interest.

Additionally, during her segment, Maddow asked Johnston who could have sent him the tax returns, and Johnston noted that he believes "it’s totally possible that Donald sent this to me.". Though he admits he does not know for sure who sent him the documents, he added, “I feel I have to include that in the possibilities of where it came from.” Soon afterward, several journalists on Twitter noticed that the tax documents read "client copy," which means they would have been in Trump's possession if the stamp is legitimate.